A Forbidden Beauty
by sheldore
Summary: Dracos parents were murdered and he is sent to live with Hermione Granger and her muggle family. Can Draco adjust to his new way of living, and cope with his growing feelings for Hermione, the girl Draco has hated for the past six years?
1. The Unexpected Gift

_This is my very first fan fiction, I hope you enjoy it! More to come soon!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, they belong to J.K. Rowling _

Draco Malfoy sat teary eyed on the front door step to his manor, rereading a note he's sure was a misunderstanding. His father would never have disrespected the Dark Lord. Never. He worshipped him. He'd give his left leg if it meant he'd pleased him. No, but the note clearly says, "_I am deeply distressed to inform you that your parents have been murdered by none other than the Dark Lord himself. We have reason to believe that your mother and father, Narcissa and Lucious Malfoy, had declined a task of the Dark Lords wishes_." He stopped abruptly as a tear fell from his left eye, wetting the sheet of parchment below. He could hardly go on. his sight was distorted, his eyes were so full of water. "_Your parents have been murdered_" He repeated those same five words over and over in his head. How could this have happened? He thought his family was safe! How could they have been so careless? To deny the Dark Lords command! Draco wanted to cry out, to say the Dark Lords name so he would come and duel him. He didn't even care if he would die in the process.

He dried his eyes with the back of his hand and continued to read the rest of the tarnished letter. "_I am sure you know of your godparents by now, If I am mistaken, It will be in my best interest to introduced them immediently, as you will remain with them until your 18th birthday." _Draco, infact, had no idea who his godparents were. To be truthful, he had never thought it important to know, and apparantly his parents hadn't either.

He began to wonder what wretched Death Eater his parents chose for him to stay. Hopefully Goyles father, although Draco doubted this, their parents very rarely spoke to one another aside from the discussions of the circle. Maybe Snape? Draco shuddered at the thought, though he enjoyed watching him take away house points from the Gryffindors, he wondered if he even owned a shower. And then a horrible thought whisped its way into his mind. What if his mother chose his aunt, Belletrix Lestrange? The Idea made him cringe. Surely his mother would realise she was mentally unstable? Draco understood devotion, having been raised by a man who allowed the Dark Lord to brandish his arm, but Draco had another word for his aunt Bella. Obsessive. He peered back down at the tear-stained letter in his hands and began to read. "_Since you are not of age, ministry representatives will arrive at ten o'clock the following morning to transport you to your guardians house through side-along apparation." _

It was two minutes to ten, without finishing, he folded the letter carefully along its already made creases and placed it in his jacket pocket. Scuffeling to his feet to collect his trunk, he walked towards the front door and took a breath in. This would be the last time he would see the place he spent his childhood. Draco was bemused by how emotional this cerebration made him. He had always resented his returning to the "_Exquisit Malfoy Manor_." He never thought there was anything exquisit about his home, he thought it was rather lonely.

He pulled open the door and crossed into the dark foyer. Dracos footsteps bounced around the broad ceiling. He glanced towards the top of the grand staircase, where his bedroom, the only place where he felt truely at home sat, awaiting the return of the boy who would not come back.

He pondered running up there, locking his door and refusing to leave, when he heard a crack. And then a small, shaking voice said "M-master..." A frail looking house elf stood in the middle of the room, looking at the floor as if ready to be scolded. A handsome trunk perched beside him. "H-h-here i-is your trunk, Sir...I have p-packed what you o-ordered." His eyes did not meet Dracos.

He walked forward towards the spot were the house elf stood with his trunk. He could see the elfs arms shaking as he approached. Draco never understood the cruelty his father sent towards the house elves, he always thought it was his way of feeling powerful, but the thought of what their house elves have had to experience, he felt guilt. He pushed that thought aside. If his father ever knew he felt _bad _for house elves he would have been disgusted.

He stopped walking. The house elf was looking up at him with such fear in his eyes it made Dracos stomache churn. "Uhm... Thanks Frubey..." He stood there a little longer, both boy and house elf staring at the floor. And then Draco Malfoy did something that would surely have repulsed his father, he took the chain from around his neck and handed it to the house elf. "Take it." he ordered.

Frubey looked up at Draco, his eyes wide in utter disbeleif as he reached out and folded his feeble fingers around the silver chain. His eyes filled with tears, he said "M-master!"

"Don't call me that!" Draco scoffed, "Just go, your'e free."


	2. The Departure

_Hey guys! Chapter two is now up! Read, Review, and Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: Sadly, none of these characters belong to me, they belong to J.K. Rowling._

Draco Malfoy made his way towards the front gate of the Malfoy Manor. His trunk floating in the air beside him. He thought of Frubey and what he had done for him. He knew he did the right thing, he knew it, but a part of him knew his father would never stand for it. And that, after working so hard to make him proud, was enough to make Draco regret it.

He still didn't know why he did it. It was a spur of the moment, one that he knew he would come regret. If Crabbe or Goyle ever found out he'd treated a house elf with _dignity _hed be shunned, and Draco couldn't afford to lose any friends.

He stopped as he got to the opening of the gate, and flicked his wand to set his trunk down. He heard a _pop_ and watched as two figures apparated a few meters before him. He couldn't see there faces at first, there backs were turned to him. The taller of the two was definately a man. Broad shoulders and a bowler hat. And the smaller was a girl, about the same height as himself, she was wearing a pink sweater and jeans. There was something farmilliar about her. But Draco couldn't quite point it out.

"Well, here we are then!" The man said to the girl in a much to cheerful voice. The two turned so they were now facing him, and Draco almost tripped over his trunk. "Granger!" He turned to the Ministry man, "What the bloody hell is she doing at my house?"

Hermiones eyes deceived her. She stood perfectly still, her arms at her side. Her face was calm, but her eyes showed pure hatred.

The Ministry man ignored Draco. "Well, Hermione, your mother did tell me you new one another." he said.

"We've been aquainted." Hermione said in a harsh tone. She folded her arms over one another and shot Draco a menacing look.

The Ministry man seemed oblivious. "Well, lets not keep anyone waiting! Come here Draco, grab hold of Hermiones hand, and we'll be on our way."

"I'm not going anywhere with her! And I am definately not going to touch a _mudblood_." He spat the last word. He watched Hermione roll her eyes. "Why did you even _come_?"

"I didn't _offer _to come. My mother made me." She said.

"Why would she- wait..." Hermione raised her eyebrows and said, "You've finally figured it out, have you?"

"_Your_ parents? _Your_ parents are my Guardians? What the bloody hell were my parents thinking. They chose a filthy muggle family! This is a mistake, my father would never have allowed it!" He turned to the Ministry man, who said "Is this an Indian gooseberry tree?" he raised his hand and plucked a berry from the tree beside him. "Very rare in the wizarding world, must've been altered..." He mumbled as he examined the leaves.

Hermione laughed, "Your _mother _was best friends with mine for a while now, believe me, I was as shocked as you."

Draco couldnt believe it! His mother! A blood traitor! "My father couldn't have known..." He said more to himself than her.

"Oh he didn't, could you imagine? One of the richest purebloods around, friends with a couple of muggles, Voldemort would've had a laugh!"

"Never say his name again!" Draco screamed.

"Oh, dont tell me! Your _afraid_ of him, are you? I thought you _worshiped_ him!"

"Never say his name again! He bloody murdered my family!" Draco could tell she hadn't known, but that didn't stop a tear slide down his cheek at the thought of his parents lifeless bodies. How had it even happened? Had they known it was coming? Had they had time to say goodbye to eachother? Or did they even have a chance? He turned his back to her, she couldn't see him like this. She would just go off and tell Potty and Weasle what a softie hes been.

"Draco, I-"

"Didn't know? Well, thats a first." He turned around and walked back towards the Ministry man, who seemed to have wandered halfway down the driveway. "Lets go." Draco snapped. He grabbed hold of his arm, granger who had followed behind, did the same to the mans other.

He could feel Hermiones' eyes on him. He kept his gaze down, focusing on a rock as the pressure began.


	3. The Greeting

**_Chapter three! Draco arrives at the Grangers house! Hope you enjoy! _**

Grangers House wasn't at all what Draco imagined. He thought something more along the lines of a small shack, like that big oaf, what do they call him? Hagrid? But when they stood at the edge of their lawn, gazing up, he realised it was reasonably average, and he wondered what it would be like to grow up in a house where you couldn't hide away from your family. Then he wondered if Granger ever _had_ to hide.

"Well we have reached our destination, I shall assist you inside, then i'll be on my way!" The Ministry man said in a cheerful tone.

He started after the man, but was pulled back by Hermione. She put her hand on his arm sympatheticaly. "Draco, I really am sorry- I wasn't aware of how it happened,"

"Don't worry over it." He said as he shoved past her. He heard her sigh, and a few seconds later she reappeared in the doorway behind him. "Draco!" He looked up to see a woman, Grangers mother he supposed, standing before him. She wore a welcoming face, and had brown bushy hair just like Hermione. A man stood behind her, arms crossed as he leaned against a nearby wall, he surveyed him through rectangular glasses. "So _this _is the famous son of Narcissa and Lucious, greatest condolences, they were great people, your parents." He studied Draco for a moment longer before saying, "you look just like your father when he was your age."

"Er, Thanks. Pleased to meet you." Draco said, he wasn't sure what he should be doing, he'd detested their daughter for the past six years, they'd called eachother names each chance they got, and now he was meeting her parents, his _godparents, _and he is expected to live with them!

"Oh! Havent we been rude! Come on in!" Mrs. Granger said, "My names Dorothy and this is Ted, my husband, and of course you've already met my daughter. Hermione, why don't you show him around? Me and Ted will bring your trunk up to your new bedroom." She put her hand to Dracos cheek then and looked down at him. "I am so sorry for your loss, Draco. I do hope you realise they were good people, just mixed up in something rotten."

Draco just nodded, he knew if he'd tried for an answer, he'd only end up with tears, and thats not who he was. Draco Malfoy should never _cry_.

Mrs. Granger left the room, he watched her as she walked up a flight of stairs, her husband trailing along behind her, managing to lift Dracos heavy trunk.

When they were no longer in sight, Draco whipped around to face Granger. "I can't bloody believe this! Its a trick! I bet Potter and Weasley had something to do with this... When I get my hands on those rotten gits I'm going to..." Draco plotted.

"This isn't a trick! I assure you, I would never allow you in my house if it weren't required by the Ministry." Granger replied.

"I cant believe I'm expected to share a house with a couple of mudbloods..." Draco murmured.

Hermione ingnored this. She stepped around him out of the door way, making sure to keep as much room apart from them as possible, and made her way down the narrow hallway. "Well, I'm expected to give you a tour," She said without looking back, "don't just stand there like an idiot, come along."

Draco, unsure of what else he could do, followed her down the hallway. He ended up standing in what he guessed was a very small kitchen. He had never actually been in a kitchen before, his family had always had house elves to prepare their dinner, and Draco really had no reason to go in there. It's not as if he wanted to spend his afternoons hanging around with the creatures who clean their toilets.

"This is our kitchen, where we make our _own _food, we don't enslave poor creatures to do our work for us." She said in a snotty tone. "You'll encounter a bit of a change here, seeing as were not to use magic."

Draco choked. "No _magic_?" He thought that must have been a joke! Draco was a wizard, a _pureblood, _and he was expected to ditch the idea of magic like it was just an old pair of sneakers! "Your parents do understand you are a _witch_, don't they?"

"Of course they do, but they are very strict about magic and using quick fixes, they insist on manual work while I'm home, and they expect the same from you now." Hermione said matter-of-factly, he could have sworn he saw her grinning, she must have known it would torture him not to use magic.

"Lets move on," She walked off to the left, and entered a room with a small wooden table with four chairs placed around it. The room had been painted with warm colours, a small chandelier hung from the ceiling above the center of the table. Curtains hung from a fair sized window on the far side wall. "This, is our dining room." She walked through another open door to a fairly large room that could only be their drawing room.

It was small, compared to the one at Dracos house, but he couldn't escape the feeling of instant comfort. The couches were placed in the middle of the room, facing a great stone fireplace, two bookshelves lined the wall around it, but the thing that startled Draco where the imense amount of family photographs on the walls.

The were large picture frames and small ones, some with grey frames and some with black, but the one thing that stood out the most was how happy the three of them seemed in each photo. It wasn't that "Smile! Your pictures being taken!" sort of happy, their smiles were sincere. Real.

He walked over to a picture on the far wall, the three Grangers stood with their backs to an enourmous boat. Hermione stood in the middle, her fathers arm lay across her shoudlers while her hand was laced tightly in her mothers. Draco couldn't help but think back to his childhood, when all he wished for was the comfort of his family. Instead he got a big house and a family who very rarely spoke to eachother.

"That was last summer, my parents said we were going to my aunts house, but they took me on that boat instead, it was a suprise for my birthday." Hermione said, her voice was gentle. Draco hadn't even realised she was watching him. "You all look really happy." He wasnt sure what made him do it, but he turned to Hermione and smiled at her, just slightly. Draco could tell he had shocked her. Her brows furrowed as if trying to work something out, but after a moment he saw the corner of her mouth turn upwards.

Her parents came down the stairs then, Mrs. Granger spoke, "Your room is ready Draco." He crossed the living room and made his way up the stairs behind Mrs. Granger, leaving Hermione looking utterly perplexed in the drawing room.


	4. A Change

**_Hey guys! Chapter four is now up! And thank you everybody for the lovely reviews about my last three chapters!_**

**_Remember: Read, Review, and Enjoy!_**

* * *

><p><em>Voldemort stood like smoke in the middle of the Malfoy Manor, his wand directed at Lucious Malfoy, a monstrous grin dancing across his face as he screamed the name of the unforgivable curse.<em>

_Eyes wide with terror, Narcissa Malfoy hollered and thrashed at the death eater bounding her, crying out her husbands' name that now lay lifeless. And then the snake like man turned toward her. He stretched out his arm and with a flick of his wand he screamed the word once more._

Draco woke sweat-drenched and breathless, his eyes wide with terror as he remembered his dream. He took in his surroundings; his almost empty room with a desk, a dresser, and a bed. He hadn't yet unpacked his belongings, so his trunk sat handle-up under the window. Draco let out a sigh of relief. There was no Voldemort. It was a dream. A terrible dream.

He glanced at the clock on the table beside his bed; three forty nine. Draco sighed. He was not looking forward to another dream about his parents.

He got to his feet and went to the bathroom. He turned the shower on full blast to cold. Stepping in he allowed a quick sigh of relief as the cool water washed away the last of his nightmare. He stood their for a few minutes, not even bothering to wash, until he'd cooled down enough to turn it off.

He stepped out and wrapped a clean towel around his waist. As he was about to head back to his bedroom, he wavered for a moment when he past by his reflection in the mirror. His life had altered so dramatically in the past three days that he was alarmed to see the same blonde haired boy staring back at him. He was now living with a muggle family, not allowed to use any form of magic, and sharing a house with Hermione Granger of all people, the one girl at Hogwarts who Draco hated more than Harry Potter.

He made his way towards the door, stepping gently across the wet tiles. When he opened the door he jumped back in surprise. Hermione was standing on the other side of the doorway, her left hand raised in a fist as if she were about to knock on the door. "Granger!" He looked down at her shocked face, "What are you _doing_?"

"I was awakened by the shower; I thought you were my father. But really, I should be asking _you_ that question, its four o'clock in the morning!" She spoke in a whisper. She stopped then, and her cheeks turned rosy. He watched as her eyes travelled over his chest. And then he realized: He was in nothing but a towel.

Draco could feel a blush flittering across his cheeks. Why hadn't he thought to bring a change of clothes? "Well, I err… Came to use the shower, you see, I was having a rough time sleeping." He tried to step around her, straining to keep a fair amount of distance between them, it was hard, seeing as she was perched in the doorway. "I—err, Excuse me…"

He made his way around her and was headed towards his bedroom door; she was still standing there looking after him when she said in an uncertain voice, "Would you like some tea?" He could tell she had surprised herself, she looked regretful of her own words, but when Draco replied with a "yeah, yeah I would" Her shoulders relaxed and he could tell she was relieved.

Draco dressed in his room then followed her awkwardly down the stairs, holding onto the railing and watching her bushy hair bounce up and down with each step. When they reached the kitchen Draco sat in a chair placed at the counter while Hermione set the kettle. The silence was inevitable. It crept up behind him and poked at his skin. It reminded him of his old life. He shivered.

"Are you cold?" Hermione asked him, he hadn't realized she had been watching him. He felt his ears go red. "No, I'm fine." Draco wasn't sure why, but he hadn't felt the need to make fun of her, he hadn't called her mudblood since he arrived, and they have very rarely had any arguments, and when they had, Draco just felt worn out, exhausted. Then he thought to himself, "I really have changed, haven't I?"

Hermione was looking out the window, her hands perched behind her on the counter as she leaned her back against it. After a moment longer of silence she said in a frustrated tone "Bloody hell, this kettle takes forever." She pulled out her wand from the waist of her pajamas and flicked it in the direction of the kettle. Immedately steam rose through the top, "Don't tell my parents." She said with a grin, "I do that sometimes when no ones around, use magic, I may live with muggles but I _am_ a witch." She chuckled.

Draco was shocked "Well well, little miss Granger breaking a _rule_?" Draco saw a flicker of nervousness on her face, she probably thought he was making fun of her, but when Draco grinned, he said "Don't worry, your secrets safe with me." She he pulled out his wand and pointed it at his nose, turning it into an elephants trunk. Hermione laughed, and not one of those giggles girls do infront of a guy, it was a real laugh, from the inside.

Draco watched her for a moment. Then she pointed her wand at her ears and they grew large, she tried to hold back a laugh but broke, bursting out in the middle of the kitchen, and Draco couldn't help but join her.

They readied their faces back to normal, still giggling, and she set a green teacup infront of him, She walked towards the counter Draco was seated at and leaned her elbows on it. She was just looking at him, smiling, and Draco found it hard to take his eyes off his teacup. _How odd _he thought, _laughing _with _Granger._

"You've changed, you know that?" She said in a more serious voice. "Your different."

Draco didn't even bother to argue, he new he had, it was no longer a question, now it was just a fact, in plane sight for everybody to see. "In what way, Hermione?" He knew the answer but, he felt the need to hear someone say it, he needed to feel that the change in him was a _good _thing.

"Well," She said with her eyes on her teacup, "you haven't called me a mudblood yet," Draco couldn't look at her. He felt guilty for all those years he'd made cruel jabs at her just because of what blood ran through her vains. "you haven't threatened to jinx me," Draco glance up at her, she was still looking at her cup, her brows furrowed as if trying to work out a troubling math equation, "and you just called me by my first name. I would say these are some major signs of a new Malfoy," A slight smile crossed her face as she said those words. _A new Malfoy._

Draco thought about those three words for the rest of the night. _A new Malfoy. _Did he like the sound of that? He wasn't yet sure.


End file.
